Scrapbook entitled "Our Wild Indians in Peace and War: Surveys, Expeditions, Mining and Scenery of the Great West," compiled by James E. Taylor, possibly as a source for his own illustrations.
Scope and Contents:
Scrapbook entitled "Our Wild Indians in Peace and War: Surveys, Expeditions, Mining and Scenery of the Great West," compiled by James E. Taylor, possibly as a source for his own illustrations. The album includes photographs (mostly albumen with three tintypes), newsclippings, wood engravings, and lithographs, some of which are reproductions of Taylor's own illustrations and paintings. Photographs depict American Indians, US Army soldiers and scouts, historical sites, forts, and scenery. Some were made on expeditions, including the Hayden and Powell surveys, and created from published stereographs. Many of Taylor's illustrations are signed, and some are inscribed with dates and "N. Y." The scrapbook also includes clippings from newspapers and other written sources relating to illustrations and photographs in the album.
Biographical Note:
James E. Taylor (1839-1901) was an artist-correspondent for Leslie's Illustrated Weekly Newspaper from 1863-1883. Born in Cincinatti, Ohio, he graduated from Notre Dame University by the age of sixteen. Taylor enlisted in the 10th New York Infantry in 1861 and the next year was hired by Leslie's Illustrated newspaper as a "Special Artist" and war correspondent. In 1864 he covered the Shenandoah Valley campaign, and was later one of the illustrator-correspondents at the 1867 treaty negotiations at Medicine Lodge, Kansas. He soon earned the moniker "Indian Artist" because of his vast number of drawings of American Indians. In 1883 Taylor retired from Leslie's to work as a freelance illustrator. Colonel Richard Irving Dodge used Taylor's drawings to illustrate his memoir, "Our Wild Indians: Thirty-three Years' Personal Experience among the Red Men of the Great West" (1882).
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4605
Related Materials:
The National Anthropolgical Archives holds additional photographs by photographers represented in this collection (including original negatives for some of these prints), particularly in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 37, Photo Lot 60, Photo Lot 87.
Additional photographs by Whitney, Gardner, and Barry held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 80-18.
Julian Vannerson and James E. McClees photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 4286.
Pywell photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 4498.
O'Sullivan photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo lot 4501.
Additional Hillers photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 83-18 and Photo Lot 87-2N.
Provenance:
Donated or transferred by John Witthoft from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, April 14, 1961.
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Indians of North America -- Great Basin Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Stereographs
Photographs
Place:
Zuni (N.M.)
Chelly, Canyon de (Ariz.)
Grand Canyon (Ariz.)
Colorado River
Date:
1871-1874
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs made on the Geographical Explorations and Surveys west of the 100th meridian, under Lieutenant George M. Wheeler, War Department, Corps of Engineers, U.S.A. 1871-74. They include images of expedition party members, archeological sites, pueblos and puebloan and other Indigenous people of the southwest (including Zuni, Navajo, Apache, Coyotero Apache, Jicarilla Apache, Ute, and Mohave), and scenic views in Canyon de Chelly, canyons of the Colorado River (including the Grand Canyon and Black Canyon), Apache Lake, and the Cerro Blanco Mountains.
The collection includes two complete sets of the stereographs published by the War Department Corps of Engineers, which were collected by John R. Swanton and Alice C. Fletcher, and an incomplete set donated by Vincent McMullen. It also includes lists and notes (circa 1935-1948) regarding the photographs prepared by F. M. Fryxell and Bruno Klinger, as well as stereographs published by the Corps of Engineers.
Biographical/Historical note:
The geographical surveys west of the 100th meridian were operated under the United States Army Corps of Engineers and supervised by First Lieutenant (later Captain) George Montague Wheeler from 1869 through 1879. They documented Native American tribes and geography in the region, in order to make accurate maps; selected possible sites for military installations and rail or common roads; and noted resources in the area. In total, the surveys analyzed the region now covered by Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon, and the expeditions produced 164 maps, 41 publications, and a series of stereoviews. Timothy H. O'Sullivan began photographing geographical surveys in 1867-1869 when he was official photographer for Clarence King's United States Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel. He served as official photographer for the Wheeler surveys in 1871, 1872, and 1874, with William Bell taking over in 1873. O'Sullivan would go on to become the United States Geological Survey's first photographer in Washington, DC.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4501, NAA MS 4500, NAA MS 4499, NAA Photo Lot 4558
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Descriptive lists and notes relating to the expedition photographs, previously filed in MS 4499, have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 4501.
Complete sets of Wheeler Expedition stereographs published by the Corps of Engineers, previously filed in MS 4500 and Photo Lot 4558, have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 4501.
Additional O'Sullivan and Bell photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo lot 40, Photo Lot 37, Photo Lot 90-1, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 97, and Photo Lot 167.
Contained in:
Numbered manuscripts 1850s-1980s (some earlier)
See others in:
Timothy H. O'Sullivan and William Bell photographs from the Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, 1871-1874
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Stereographs
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 4501, Timothy H. O'Sullivan and William Bell photographs from the "Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian" and associated papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
